EF1 tornado, Liberty Hill to Andice, Texas, May 23, 2015

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 23, 2015

Touchdown

9:22 PM CDT (02:22 UTC)

Lifted

9:34 PM CDT (02:34 UTC)

On the ground

12 minutes

Path length

3.1 miles (5.0 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Williamson County

Touchdown point

30.691, -97.941

Lift-off point

30.734, -97.927

Record number

1505232022-01

35 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

• Over half of the roof decking was removed. Dormer blown off. Two sheds picked up and moved 20 yards. Large trees snapped.
• Trailer picked up and slammed into garage.
• Two corners of the roof decking peeled off.
• Large tree branches snapped.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

An upper level shortwave trough moved around the longwave low over the Four Corners region. This upper distubance interacted with a surface boundary moving northward as a warm front from South Texas into a very moist airmass. This combination led to thunderstorms that produced heavy rain and isolated severe weather. A historic flash flood occurred on the Blanco River late Saturday night into Sunday. Hundreds of homes were destroyed along the river from the City of Blanco down into Wimberley and San Marcos. The flood wave continued downstream for days affecting residents and homes along the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers. Early estimates show damages in excess of 100 million dollars. Several people lost their lives due to flash flooding. A large tornado outbreak occurred this Saturday night producing numerous small brief tornadoes.

A NWS storm survey team found an EF-1 tornado initially touched down near County Road 201 just west of County Road 200. The tornado traveled to the north-northeast through the Indian Oaks and Carriage Oaks subdivisions before crossing County Road 200 and lifting near East Bear Creek Rd. Damage was primarily to large oak trees, but about 7 to 10 homes suffered damage mainly to roofs. The most substantial damage was a complete loss of a chimney. Also, a barn lost part of its roof. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph.

A NWS storm survey team concluded a tornado touched down in the Gabriel's Overlook subdivision in Williamson County, roughly four miles northeast of Leander. The tornado snapped large tree limbs through its path length. The tornado also caused damage to two homes, with roof decking on the corner of one home removed, and over half the roof decking on the second home completely removed. Two large storage sheds were are also picked up and moved 20 yards. Peak winds were estimated at 95-100 mph, where the most significant damage occurred to the second house.

A NWS storm survey concluded that a weak and brief EF-0 tornado touched down near the end of Brizendine Rd. in far NW Williamson County. Minor roof damage was observed along with tree damage. Peak winds were estimated at 85 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:20 UTC and running to 08:00 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:50 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Lago Vista (RYW), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.